The Wahls Protocol Cooking for Life

March 20, 2017
Wahls, who has multiple sclerosis, developed her own take on the popular paleo regimen when she “could not wait for modern medicine to solve my health problems.” Her clinical background lends some gravitas to her story: she’s a physician and University of Iowa professor, and assistant chief of staff at a VA hospital. Within a year of initiating her diet, Wahls says she went from using a wheelchair to riding a bike. There are three levels of commitment: the Wahls Diet (high-vegetable, low-grain), Wahls Paleo (organ meat and sea vegetables), and finally Wahls Paleo Plus (hard-core high-fat ketogenic). Anecdotally, or at least without citation, Wahls recommends this last level for those with neurological ailments such as dementia and epilepsy, in addition to “the most severe levels of chronic disease.” Recipes cover paleo fixtures such as bone broth, nut milk, and cauliflower “rice,” as well as nearly 50 pages of fairly repetitive smoothies and juices. Recipes are uneven. A bacon salad, for instance, has one ingredient listed, kale; later it develops that Brussels sprouts, carrots, beets, and balsamic vinaigrette (and bacon) also figure. Wahls Protocol acolytes might find the book useful; others, not so much.